Being stressed out has become part of our everyday language. Fifty years ago, had you told someone you were stressed out, they wouldn’t have known what you were talking about and might even have questioned your knowledge of grammar! But that’s all changed. Rare is the individual today who doesn’t get stressed out at least once a day. Chronic stress and anxiety can lead to severe health problems, particularly with the ‘type A’ personality. Besides, stress produces unpleasant feelings in the body, headaches, as well as causing you to snap at others without reason. While your doctor might prescribe a medication to calm you down, it’s always best to avoid prescription medicines if you can.

I’d like to offer you five natural anxiety and stress relief techniques that you can put to use today. They all work, so you can pick and choose as the mood strikes you. Of course, if you’re really stressed out, use all five!

1. Exercise! Physical exercise of any kind is one of the great treatments to relieve stress and anxiety. It doesn’t matter what the weather is either. If it’s raining, get out the vacuum and give that rug a good vacuuming. Go over and over that rug until its sparkling clean. It’s one of the great natural ways to relieve stress. Or if there’s a spot in the yard that needs to be weeded, go to it, weed it within an inch of it’s life. Other physical tasks, like cleaning out the hall closet, can prove sufficiently distracting so that you’ll be automatically diverted from whatever got you all stressed out. You also get a great deal of satisfaction from how clean it is.

2. Journal writing is another one of the great natural ways to relieve stress. You don’t need to be a writer to take advantage of this treatment. Maybe it’s your boss or your spouse who jumped on your case about whatever. Biting your tongue is what is causing this stress, so now is the time to express yourself, without starting a fight! Give that so-and-so all of your thoughts on the topic in your (private) journal. Works like a charm!

3. Lavender is an old time natural way to relieve stress and is especially effective for stress headaches. You can take several avenues to use this remedy. You can take a nap, lying on a lavender filled pillow, or you can make or buy a lavender filled eye cover. You can also take a few whiffs of essential oil of lavender and/or dab a drop on each of your temples. Lavender is an natural and easy to use method for anxiety and stress relief.

4. Some treatments for anxiety and stress relief should be interactive. Here’s a variation on the journal writing entries. Write an email to a good friend and vent. Tell your friend up front to take it with a grain of salt. After all, we shouldn’t take life too seriously too often. Vent as much as you want. By the time you’re done, you’ll probably feel better. You can send it or not, as your mood dictates. Ask them for a funny joke or cartoon in their response. This way, you can get a laugh too. It’s good for the soul.

5. Here’s the be all and end all of natural treatments for anxiety and stress: every time you feel yourself getting stressed out, make a note, in your journal, of what triggered the event. After just a few weeks, you’ll begin to see a pattern. Do you constantly worry about money? Your weight? Does someone at work drive you crazy? Not enough hours in the day? Once you’ve discovered your common stress triggers, implement a plan to eliminate them. Make a strict budget. Lose weight. Ignore, or make friends with that work mate. Whatever works.

These five natural ways to relieve stress do work. If you need some anxiety and stress relief then try them. They work and you’ll like them!

Wil Dieck is the founder of Total Mind Therapy and author of an e-Course “Steps to reducing your stress“ that you can have at absolutely no charge. Drop by http://www.beststressreliefinfosite.com/ for your copy today